Russia foreign minister, NATO chief to meet in Brussels

The Ukrainian issue may be raised at a meeting in the NATO headquarters

BRUSSELS, January 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Missile defense, fight against terrorism, piracy and drug trafficking will be high on agenda of a meeting between visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the NATO headquarters here on Tuesday. Right after talks Sergei Lavrov will go to a residence of the European Council — Palace Justus Lipsius, where the 32nd Russia-EU summit will be held on Tuesday afternoon.

The negotiators are expected to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, Syria and Iran among international issues.

According to preliminary reports, the meeting between Rasmussen and Lavrov will last 30 minutes.

“Sergei Lavrov will draw attention of the NATO general secretary to the need to translate into life joint decisions on shaping a common space of peace, security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region,” deputy director of the department of information and press of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said. The interlocutors will also “exchange views on topical issues on international agenda, particularly capabilities to promote the mission of the United Nations Organization and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to destroy Syrian chemical weapons,” she said.

The Ukrainian issue may be raised at a meeting in the NATO headquarters, a diplomatic source told Itar-Tass in Brussels earlier. “This can hardly be imagined that the negotiators will not raise the situation in Ukraine,” the source noted.

Meanwhile, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the Ukrainian issue was even not on agenda. “In preparation to talks in Brussels the Ukrainian issue was even not on agenda,” the source said. “The goal of tomorrow’s meeting between Lavrov and the NATO general secretary is to discuss Russia-NATO relations, including problematic issues of cooperation and prospects of development. The situation in Ukraine was not put on negotiated agenda,” he added.